I really hope this article wasn't written as some kind of journalistic report, because it is one of the worst I've read in years. Saying one area hasn't made as many arrests while completely ignoring the fact that arrests have dramatically increased in other areas is reporter dishonesty. Calling a criminal entering our country a "hapless immigrant" is more journalistic bullshit. The writer of this article clearly has an agenda he was was trying to put out and anyone with a single brain cell should be able to see right through his crap.

I agree. I feel that it is interesting that the author begins the article by criticizing lawmakers who are in favor of erecting a fence, and then goes on to comment on the lack of activity along the El Paso border... which has a fence. Doesn't that prove that those politicians might have a point? Especially when you consider that the fence is really the only thing separating El Paso from the city of Juarez, Mexico which reported a 40% increase in violent crimes and homicides from 2010. I believe that in January of 2011 alone it was reported that over 200 people lost their lives as a result of violent crimes in Juarez. You can double check my statistics. I am just quoting off memory here. I could be off, but still Juarez is one of the murder capitals of the world. If I were facing those statistics I would consider shooting a little electricity through that fence as well.

I completely agree with Doug Massey. In the recession that we are in there is no use in putting money into border control. There is barely any growth in our economy, and that should be our main concern right now, not the border where less and less people are trying to get into the US.

While it may be true that Republicans want a fence (presumably because it makes them feel safer from illegal border crossings), it is also Republicans (like Mayor Bloomberg) who are pushing for rational *legal*, skilled immigration reform.

Most sensible people I speak to - on both sides of the political spectrum - agree that the legal US immigration system is broken, and would like to see it fixed. Since both sides agree on fixing legal immigration, why can't we just fix it? Why can't we make incremental changes? One major factor is that the left refuses to accommodate any significant reform that doesn't deal with the fate of the undocumented workers. Since the right doesn't want to talk about that right now, we're at loggerheads.

We legal immigrants are just a drop in the ocean, after all: a tiny proportion (7%) of green cards issued every year are for economic reasons. That means that 93% of people who get US residency every year are not necessarily useful to the economy; they just happen to be related to someone who is a citizen.

I would like to speak on the subject as a Resident of Arizona and therefore someone who is very close to the issue. We as a state have gotten a lot of bad press for certain bills and policies concerning immigration. We have been made out to be intolerant racists who happily arrest and deport innocent men and women who are simply trying to give their family a better life. True, there is a lot of anger toward illegal immigrants in our state. Just ask anyone whose insurance premiums have been driven up by a fender bender with an uninsured immigrant. However, most of our obsession with border control stems not out of hatred, but rather out of fear. People are terrified of the Mexican drug cartels and the violence they are bringing into our country. There are well worn drug lanes running through our entire state. It is common knowledge down here that if you see any sort of package, bag, backpack, or anything at all lying out in the desert you are not to approach it or touch it because you have likely stumbled upon a drug drop. My husband owns a fencing company and it is not an entirely uncommon occurrence for his men to stumble across discarded bodies while running barbed wire through the desert. A few years ago we even had a gun battle between members of the cartel that occurred not on the desolate roads of a border town, but on a stretch of I10 between Phoenix an Tucson, a very busy road. Pair that with frequent murders, cop killings, and one of the highest kidnapping rates in the country(due partly to human trafficking), and you have a recipe for hysteria. I'm not trying to make it out like we are living in a war zone, or exaggerate circumstances to prove a point. These things are not exactly daily occurrences, but they do happen. I am well aware that the crime rate has decreased in recent years, but to me that doesn't mean the problem had decreased. It simply tells me the precautions we are taking are working. To reverse policy that has proven positive results seems just plain silly to me. Am I wrong? I may not have given the most intellectual analysis of this issue, but understand that I am not coming from a political or economic perspective, but from a mother's perspective. My main objective is providing a safe and stable environment for my children, and in my mind to make this an issue of right wing or left wing politics is ridiculous. The two sides are so busy battling each other and trying to prove one right and the other wrong that the lose sight of what they were put in office to do in the first place.

It's always sad for anyone to live in fear - I know from many years in London about not approaching a bag, in case it is something more sinister than lost luggage.

But in the same way as terrorism needs to be tackled through many avenues beyond simple prevention, so it is with drugs and gang violence. There are plenty of ways in which the US fuels the problem - as buyers of the drugs sold by the gangs you so fear, and by lax gun laws giving the gangs the weaponry they then use to deadly effect.

I too live in Arizona, right on the border. I can see the lights of the "tortilla wall" from my bedroom window quite clearly. Until about a year ago our area was overrun; it was like a braided stream -- you block one rivulet and the flow shifts into another stream bed.

But now it's mostly dried up. One friend who used to see scores of illegals running down the ditch by his house hasn't seen anyone in a year. The deserts to the west of me no longer sprout trash. It's been 3 years since I had to pick up immigrant trash from my own land, or mend my fence.

The collapse of the building industry has much to do with the drop in illegals, but on the other hand the collapse of society in Mexico should offset this. With the cartels increasing the savagery of their wars, including against the government, I would imagine lots of Mexicans would immigrate, even if there was no work. At least you wouldn't be tortured to death.

I really think the difference is because the border patrol has really stepped up its presence. And yes, before that 17 foot fence, there was only an 8 strand barbed wire fence that could be cut in about 2 minutes, or climbed in 15 seconds.

15 years ago, we had one of the highest vehicle theft rates in Arizona. If they could start your car and get it through the massive holes in the fence, that vehicle was theirs!

But its difficult to drive through a steel wall. Hard to climb it too. And even if you climb it without breaking your legs, you have to evade "la migra," which has a lot more personnel chasing quite a few less people. And once the chances of success vanish, people stop trying.

In my rural homestead, we have had only 2 illegals come to our door these past 3 years. And both of them wanted help getting back to Mexico! They both lost their group, gave up hope on being able to get past the border zone, and were ready to go back home to Oaxaca, or whichever state they were from.

The border patrol solution is working, incrementally, but folks in Washington DC remain in a fog.

The immigration problem will most likely never be solved. As long as the United States is successful and a more desirable place to live, there will always be individuals trying to leave their current situation with hopes of finding a better one in the US. This is a problem because the US wants to continue improving, but at the same time prevent immigration, but this is a problem because it only promotes more immigration.

If New York City just stopped most police petrol, most of the city jails will be emptied, and there would be no one waiting to be booked. The Economist can then write "see, criminal offensive conviction is near zero, jails are empty, no one is even waiting to be booked; I wonder what all these silly cries about crimes in the city is about..."

Obama by fiat already stopped most deportation.

If the feds would just visit some fields, factories, hotels, restaurants, or even ordinary neighborhoods and check their landscape service, the detainment center would be filled. If I take a short drive around, I can easily collect a bus load for deportation within an hour.

Wait, why even drive around! Why not just check on Obama's relatives. His illegal alien uncle just went back to his illegal life in Boston. His illegal alien aunt awaiting deportation somehow just got her green card.

If it wasn't for the failure of the softy Democrats to control the borders, there wouldn't be a flood of Spanish speaking immigrants. If there wasn't a flood of immigrants, I wouldn't be terrified. If I wasn't terrified, I wouldn't vote Republican.

Therefore, there is a failure to control the border, the Republicans reliably inform us.

"Along a two-mile stretch of the border just outside [the city], five Border Patrol vehicles wait, ready to give chase should anyone manage to get past the fence. In the centre of town, where it is easiest for people to dash across from [the zone] on the other side and disappear in the busy streets, the entire border is floodlit. Elsewhere, agents have access to mobile lighting units, as well as hand-held infra-red cameras akin to night-vision goggles. There is even a special unit to chase hapless migrants through the city’s storm drains. If anyone makes it past all these obstacles, there are checkpoints at the bus station, at railroad yards and on the main roads out of town, complete with dogs to sniff out stowaways. And there is more manpower and clever kit on the way."

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Does this paragraph remind anybody else of the Cold War and Check Point Charlie?

We used to mock the Stasi, the Vopos, and such like, as they kept spending more on refining the wall right up to version V in 1985. Yet, in the end we copy the machinery, and to a distressing extent the mindset.

Not really, dude. One locked people in their country like it was a prison, shooting them like dogs, and one tries to keep people out of a country where the people already in it actually want to stay. That is about as fundamental of difference as it gets, no matter the toys they use to effect the policy.

The border battle is just one of the occurring problems that the Us is trying to work on. Millions and millions of dollars are being put into this, but the results really haven't shown it. For me, I have no problem with immigration if it is legal. People want to come to the US because of job availability, freedom, and to start a new life. This is completely understandable. What I don't like and probably many other people can agree on is illegal immigration. If they are caught illegally in the US, I believe they should be sent back, spend time in jail, etc. They are breaking the law, it is that simple. If they go through the process to become legal than I have no problem with them. Being illegal is completely unfair because they don't pay taxes, take jobs away from citizens, etc. This issue is going to continue to occur as I don't really see it coming to an end ever, but the US could definitely implement something new that could try to stop so many illegals coming across the boarder.

The border issue is just one out of hundreds of examples of where US policy is completely idiotic. By the time you add up immigration, refusal to provide enough visas for skilled workers so companies like Oracle, Microsoft et al set up huge operations in other countries, the "war on drugs" and all the rest, the picture is one of endless political stupidity leading to millions of wasted lives and hundreds of billions of wasted dollars.

Only 2% of Americans own a business which employs at least one worker.
Being a business owner is risky, hard work, thankless and 24/7 on-call. It is a gamble. And the hardest work of your life. And countless hours off the clock. And ulcer inducing.
Most Americans would rather be employees than the owner/entrepreneur.
But there are some who see this as the Golden Path.
One source of these rare entrepreneurs are certain diaspora migrants: Lebanese, Russian Jews, Israelis, Indians and Chinese. They open up small businesses at rates that dwarf native born Americans.
They start small restaurants and dry good, and import/export concerns and 7-11 convenience stores.

Replicate Canada's migration policy: Have a million in cash assets, open a business in Canada, and employ at least one native born Canadian, THEN get to the front of the immigration line.

These businesses start small. Many will fail. But some will make it big. Google and Apple both started in garages fueled by instant ramen. And the Entrepreneur DNA stays with the subsequent striving young generations.

It is time to revise the "Give me your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses..." Rather we need Brains, Capital and Entrepreneurs.

This policy will cost nothing. But will create jobs, small businesses and services for the consumer.

The US already has an investment-type visa where as long as you have a certain amount of capital you can enter. It's just been small compared to overall legal migrant numbers AND it takes ages coz of security checks etc.

Connect, we have a similar such entrepreneur program here in the US. It's called an EB5 visa. I'm not an expert on them but I believe there is a minimum capital investment of $1m and a requirement to create 10 jobs. See http://www.uscis.gov.

I'm not sure how this helps most of the Mexicans looking for work (who have less than $1m), or the American businesspersons who want to employ and/or contract with them. The EB5 visa has lately been a useful vehicle for very wealthy Mexicans coming to the US to escape the drug war.

Please allow me to make a small correction in your otherwise highly recommendable comment: There is no 'Entrepreneur DNA', but there is 'Entrepreneur Culture'. But that one also stays with the subsequent striving young generations.